After I spent my Halloween on the Pond with Mr. Holst. Thanks James! We had a great night boating many fish with losing many on the short bite. My 2nd experience with a guide from IDA. I can’t say enough about either James or Steve D. WOW what a trough full of knowledge those 2 are. Not afraid to share the wealth either! Thanks you 2!
I left the pond @ 3am Monday morning and headed straight to Kindred ND. With a Dale Jr. like move around Motely to avoid what I was now pursuing. Doing 75 mph and splitting the gap by inches between 2 deer that were standing on the road, only having to swerve 2 more times to miss the rest of the herd. I made it through what I know I could never do again! 
The farmers up there were experiencing very wet fields and therefore did not have hardly any of corn off yet 
.
Those deer were in the corn and not chasing early in the week.
I will touch on 3 highlights of the trip.
Monday night I sat on a field edge that was on a ridge of a hollow, that the deer were using to stage before crossing a cut field into the corn. I had to bump a few deer of my stand @ 3pm to get into it. Shortly after I got settled in, I had a encounter with a 115″ class 4×4 (8 pointer). This would soon be the broken record for the rest of my trip. Cookie cutter 110″ to 125″ class 4×4’s. Great deer but not quite what I was looking for or able to take on our Management system in place up there. Right around sunset I had a group of does that were working there way form the beds through the hollow up onto my Ridge @ about 50 yards away. A few of them started to look back into the hollow. I glassed the hollow and seen exactly what they were looking at, a monster high racked 4×4. This deer would be seen a half dozen times by myself and my buddy Paul through out the week. We guessed him @ 137 to 142″. He came up the same spot on the ridge 50 yards away and just hung out with the does. Not pushing them at all. The does made the cut field with plenty of light, along with the High Racked Buck. I watched him the remaining 20 minutes of light out in the open field with the does, 75 yards from the farm house. Paul and I decided at weeks end he would most likely not make it through the gun season. We would have 5 more close encounters with this Buck the remainder of the week.
The best sitting I had was Wednesday morning. NOthing to special, but I sat in a stand that no one has been in yet this year and It had been about 2 years since I have been there. This was one of those mornings that we all dream about, cool crisp air, temps in the mid 20’s and the begining of November with a SE wind. I had set out a scent bomb to try to pull any bedded buck out of the bowl to my NE. I got in my stand 45 minutes before shooting light and knew I was sitting ona farm and area that has some true monster bucks. Right @ Shooting Light I heard foot steps coming from the SW. I picked up my Binocs. I picked up a deer coming my way with horns. He was about 80 yards out yet. I thought I had seen a good amount of horns. As he got closer I was right, he stopped about 50 yards from me and began browsing a little. He was a hogg. He began to walk again, only there is one problem he is not on the trail that would have put him 18 yards upwind of me any more. He is circling down wind of me . Trying to find a spot where I can get an arrow through he is in some brush 32 yards out. No shot! HE keeps walking and has gone through my scent line, but seems not to be alarmed. He keeps going is now clear of the brush , but is 50 yards out broadside 
! I tried to esterus call him since he was now entering the scent bomb line of scent. I got him to stop and take some whiffs, but he had no interest. I watched the 150 to 160 class 5×5 (10 pointer) walk away from the field with sparse trees that I was set up in, into the heavy woods to my NE . Putting my Binocs to my chest and riding the emotional roller coaster ride of the last 10 mintues (what seems like hours), out of nowhere there is Buck #2 32 yards in the same brush as the last buck. Back on to the roller coaster I go again. This buck is looking for the doe that is putting out the scent from the scent bomb. He takes a few steps towards the scent bomb and know clears the brush and is standing qaurtering to. This is a real nice 4×4, around the P&Y 125 range. HE sits @ 30 yards out trying to find what is leaving that scent 
??? I look towrds the bowl as I catch movment out of the corner of my eye. Buck #3 pops out with 2 does and a fawn. This 4×4 buck is a tad samller and right around 115 to 120″. He too is looking at my scent bomb trying to figure out what is leaving the scent He is 25 yards out broadside. One of the does starts to stomp towards the scent bomb. She gets spooked and takes off taking the other doe, fawn and the 4×4 with her. I focus back on the bigger 4×4 as he turns to walk off I give him the esterus call as I’m not quite sure I dont want to take him or not. He spins around and comes 15 yards from me and stops qaurtering away slightly. Here I am faced with a huge decision. I’m at full draw not looking through my peep but trying to count inches on my little formula I have set up for quick mesuring deer in my head. I came up with 126″. It was to close to call, so I decided not to attempt to harvest him. He turned walked away and I let down. I still think I made the right decision. As the Sun is starting to hit the tree tops, another cookie cutter 4×4 comes out of the bowl with 2 does. They are coming right down the trail right at me. God is really trying my patience today, another nice deer within 25 yards broadside. They work their way in front of me and turn to go behind me. They proceed to go behind and down wind of me and towrds the big woods to beed. The 3rd true test of the day for my Scent Control clothing. See the post about Scentlok for more details on this. All the bucks that I have seen to this point of the trip that have been with does, have not been pushing or chasing them, but just hanging out with them. I would have one more encounter with a buck making the toal 5 for the morning. This would be a sub 100″ 4×4. He crossed the path down wind of the scent bomb and came right in to feet of the bomb sniffing the ground just unable to figure it out and then crossing right in front of me @ 18 yards. WOW what a morning and what a ride. I’m mentally drained from the roller coaster ride of emotions that I just had gine through in the last couple of hours. Those are the exact emotions that make bowhunting whitetails by far my favortie thing in the world. They are not kidding when they say it’s not a passion , it’s an obssesion.
I got out of the stand @ 9:30 and still was bumping into deer on the way out!
Thursday Evening put me back into the stand I sat in Monday Night right on the edge of a cut field leading to standing corn, on the ridge next to the hollow. A susual does were moving on the oppsite ridge first. I was losing count of the amount of does I was seeing on the other side. I was watching about 7-10 of them on the other ridge browsing and standing in the sun when I heard one hell of a commotion. I seeone doe tearing across the ridge with others just watching. When all of asudden here comes a buck tearing after her. They dance around on the other ridge until she finally comes through the hollowto my ridge with another cookie cutter 4×4 in tow. She come right by my stand circles around and back to through the hollow to the other ridge. He stays on my ridge and picks up another doe and began to chase her around. I lose sight of him for awhile until I see him spot another doe on my ridge and he tears across the hollow and finally finds a doe that accepts him. I watch him breed this doe 40 yards from my stand. That was it. The whole rest of the night that 4×4 tore up each ridge and hollow every time he spotted a doe he had to investigate ! I had him within 20 yards numerous times. I had all I could do to keep in my chuckles and giggles. He kind of reminded me of myself back in the college bar days 
! I had one more encounter with a small 3×4 trailing a doe 12 yrds in front of me. That 4×4 still makes me laugh just thinking of him!
Well that is the 3 best sits I had during this time! I’m headed up to Pine River this weekend to do some rifle hunting on a buddies farm where a few Hoggs have been spotted already. Rifle does not get me as jacked up but I’m still pumped 
!
Good Luck to all the rest of you IDA ‘ers in the field or on the water this weekend! 